Wreck Report for 'Harriet Agnes', 1878

(No. 301.)

"HARRIET AGNES," (S.S.)

The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876.

IN the matter of the formal investigation held at Westminster, on the 5th of

November 1878, before H. C. ROTHERY, Esquire, Wreck Commissioner, assisted by

Commander VISCONTI, R.N., and Captain HIGHT, as Assessors, into the

circumstances attending the material damage sustained by the British steamship

"HARRIET AGNES," of London, on, at, or near the wreck of the British steamship

"Childwall Hall," north of St. Vincent, on the 18th day of July 1878.

The Court having carefully inquired into the circumstances of the

above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the Reasons annexed, that the

damage sustained by the said vessel "Harriet Agnes" was due to the negligent

navigation thereof by her master, William James; viz.,—

(1.) In having, after he had passed Cape Roca at a distance of only four miles,

kept the vessel on a S. 1/2 W. course from 1.30 a.m. till noon, and from noon

till she struck on a S. by W. course, which would necessarily take her on to

Cape St. Vincent;

And (2) in having, when he obtained a sounding of 52 fathoms, altered his course

only one point to the westward, instead of laying the ship's head off the shore,

until he had got into deep water again, the weather at the time being extremely

thick and hazy.

For these wrongful acts and defaults the Court suspends the certificate of the

said William James for six months, but recommends that during the period of such

suspension he be allowed a first mate's certificate.

The Court makes no order as to costs.

Dated the fifth day of November 1878.

H. C. ROTHERY, Wreck Commissioner.

We concur in the above Report.

E. G. F. G. VISCONTI, Assessor.

Retired Commander, R.N.

EDWARD HIGHT, Assessor.

Reasons.

The Commissioner.—This is one of the simplest cases that has ever come before

the Court. The "Harriet Agnes" is a screw steamship, belonging to the port of

London, of the burthen of 623 tons gross and 473 tons net register, and is

fitted with two engines of 120 horse-power combined. She was built in Sweden in

the year 1865, and at the time of the casualty which forms the subject of the

present Inquiry she was the property of Mr. William George Westcott, of 9,

Fenchurch Street, in the city of London, and two other gentlemen, Mr. Westcott

being the principal and managing owner.

She left London for Bona on the 12th of July last with a full cargo of general

goods, and having a crew of 18 hands all told. She had four boats, three hand

pumps, one to each hold, besides the donkey and bilge pumps in the engine-room,

and appears to have been well found in every respect. She had two compasses, one

before the wheel aft, and another forward on the bridge; and although the vessel

had not, it appears, been swung during the 3 1/2 years that the master had

commanded her, we have no reason to think that her compasses were otherwise than

in good order.

Nothing particular occurred until the 18th of the same month, when she arrived

off the coast of Portugal. At 1.30 a.m. of that day she was abreast of Cape Roca

at the entrance to the River Tagus, when her course, which had up to that time

been according to the captain south-southwest, but according to the mate

south-south-west-half-west, was altered, according to the captain to south and

by west, according to the mate to south-half-west. At noon an observation was

taken, which placed her in latitude 37° 15' north, her longitude, we are told,

being 9° 15' west. There was no wind, and the vessel was going full speed, which

we are told was 7 1/2 knots an hour. It was the second mate's watch from noon of

that day, but the captain seems to have been on deck during the greater part, if

not the whole of that watch, and until the vessel struck. At 1 p.m. the weather

began to get hazy, and by 2 it was very thick. Orders were accordingly given to

put the engines at easy, but whether they were first put at half speed, and

then, when the weather became very thick, at easy, is not quite clear. - A

look-out man was also stationed forward. At 2.50 the engines were stopped for

the purpose of taking a cast of the lead. Having obtained 52 fathoms, the

vessel, which from noon of that day had been on a south by west course, was laid

south-south-west, or one point more to the westward, and she went ahead easy. In

about five or ten minutes from that time some of the witnesses say that they

observed the cliffs ahead; the master says that he heard voices ahead. But,

however that may be, the helm seems to have been immediately ordered to be put

hard a-port, and very shortly afterwards the vessel struck. Whether she struck

upon the wreck of a vessel called the "Childwall Hall," which had previously

gone ashore on Cape St. Vincent, or whether on the rock's themselves, appears to

us not to matter very much; in any case she was where she ought never to have

been, namely, on Cape St. Vincent. Within a few minutes it was found that there

were 3 inches of water in the fore hold, 4 inches in the main hold, and 13

inches in the after hold. At this time the weather suddenly cleared up, and Cape

St. Vincent was observed a quarter of a mile off on the port quarter. The vessel

was thereupon stopped, and the engineer having reported that water was rising

fast in the engine-room, the master ordered the boats to be got out. Two quarter

boats and the starboard lifeboat were accordingly put over the side, and at 4

p.m., the water having by that time risen so high as to put out the fires, the

master ordered the whole of the crew, with the exception of the chief mate, into

the boats, and he and the mate alone remained on board. At about this time a

small Portuguese tug came up, and a tow line having been passed to her, and made

fast on board, she was taken in tow and laid on the beach somewhere between Cape

St. Vincent and Sagres. From that time until the 27th they were employed in

discharging the cargo, when a vessel, which had been sent out from Liverpool by

the owners expressly for the purpose, came up, and with the aid of a very

powerful pumping apparatus which she had on board, succeeded in emptying her,

and the leaks having been stopped up, she was hauled off the beach and taken to

Lisbon. There she underwent some temporary repairs, and on the 10th of October

last she left Lisbon, and arrived in London on the 18th of the same month.

Now Mr. Howard Smith, who has appeared for the Board of Trade, has charged the

master with having caused the damage to this vessel by negligence in the

navigation thereof. That the master is alone responsible for all that was done

on board this vessel, is admitted on all hands; he was on deck nearly all the

time from about noon till the vessel struck; and all the arrangements in regard

to the navigation of the vessel, the courses steered, the soundings taken, and

the speed, were done under his orders.

And first it is said that the master did not pay proper attention to the

bearings of Cape Roca. He stated in his evidence that they passed Cape Roca at

the distance of about six miles, and in that statement he was supported by the

mate. On the other hand, the log book says that they passed Cape Roca at the

distance of only four miles. That we are to accept evidence given some four

months after the event, in preference to the entry in the log book made by one

of those witnesses recent facto, is impossible. I think, therefore, that it must

be assumed as a fact in this case that, when she passed Cape Roca, she was at

the distance of four miles only, and not six miles from it.

Next it was said that the master did not keep a straight and proper course after

passing the Cape. The master has told us that from Cape Roca the vessel's course

was south by west; on the other hand the mate said that it was south-half-west,

and his statement is borne out by the entry in the log book. On this point then

I think that we must accept the evidence of the mate and of the log book, and

hold that the course steered from Cape Roca until noon at least was

south-half-west. Now a line drawn from a point four miles off Cape Roca in a

south-half-west direction would strike Cape St. Vincent. I have laid the course

down on the chart, and the master has admitted that from four miles off Cape

Roca a course south-half-west would take him directly on Cape St. Vincent.

But it was pointed out by the master that according to the entries in the log

book she was steered, from noon of that day until she struck, south by west, or

half a point more to the westward. But an alteration of the course half a point

to the westward for about three hours, during which she was going only three to

three and a half knots an hour, would do no more than counteract the easterly

set of the current, which the master said would carry him about a mile to the

eastward, between Cape Roca and Cape St. Vincent. The result then would be the

same as if he had steered the whole way a S. 1/2 W. course, and there had been

no set of the current to the east; and that course, as I have shown, would land

him on Cape St. Vincent. It is obvious therefore that the course steered by the

master from Cape Roca was not a proper one.

But even according to the master's own showing, his conduct appears to us to be

unjustifiable. He said that on passing Cape Roca he laid his course so as to

pass from three to four miles outside Cape St. Vincent; this was on the

assumption that, when he passed Cape Roca, he was six miles from it. But if

instead of being six miles from Cape Roca, he was only four miles, as shown by

the log book, he would then have passed only one to two miles from it, which was

much too near to go in such weather.

The master stated that in the run from Cape Roca he allowed for a set of the

current of two knots to the southeast, or in other words a set of one knot to

the east; but at the close of his evidence he said that in the book of

instructions which accompanied his chart it was said that no one could account

for the currents about Cape St. Vincent. What was the book of instructions to

which the master referred he was not able to tell us; but in the book of sailing

directions which we have, and which is in common use among seamen, I find at

page 273 the following observations, "In light winds, sailing vessels should

pre- " serve a good offing when in the vicinity of Cape " St. Vincent, as the

currents generally set strong along " shore, and have a tendency towards the

cape." It was, therefore, clearly his duty to have given a wider berth to Cape

St. Vincent than he intended to do, even according to his own account.

The fourth charge is for "not keeping a more westerly " course after having

taken soundings at or about 2 p.m. on " the said 18th of July." It seems that

the soundings were taken at 2.50 p.m., and that they gave 52 fathoms. Now the

master has admitted in his evidence that he knew perfectly well that there was

deep water close up to Cape St. Vincent. He stated that he believed that the 100

fathoms line passed within a mile and a half or two miles of Cape St. Vincent.

Without going perhaps quite to that extent, it is clear that when he obtained

the sounding of 52 fathoms he must have known that he was very close, improperly

close, to the shore; and instead of simply putting his head one point further to

the westward, if he had put his helm hard a port, and gone right off the shore

until he had got into deep water, this casualty probably would not have

occurred. We think, therefore, that this charge has also been proved.

The fifth charge is for "maintaining too high a rate of " speed, having regard

to the afore-mentioned state of the " weather." There is no doubt that the

weather was intensely thick, which rendered it incumbent upon the master, in the

position in which he was, to go as slowly as possible. At the same time, if we

are to believe his evidence and that of the officers and engineer, it seems

clear that he could hardly have gone at a less speed than he did, which we are

told was about three miles to three miles and a half an hour; with less speed he

would hardly have been able to keep steerage way on his ship. We do not think

therefore that he is fairly chargeable with having gone at too great a rate of

speed.

The sixth charge is for "not making sufficient use of the lead." A cast of the

lead was, as I have stated, taken at 2.50; at 3 o'clock the vessel was again put

on her course, and she struck within five or ten minutes from that time. We

hardly think then that there was any neglect in not taking a second cast of the

lead before she struck.

On the whole, however, we think that the charges have been sufficiently

established, and that it has been shown to our satisfaction that the captain has

been guilty of very gross negligence, if not of incompetency, in the management

of this vessel. We are quite prepared to admit that subsequently to the casualty

his conduct was everything that could be desired. No man could have behaved

better than he did in remaining on board with the mate only, when the vessel was

in imminent danger of foundering at any moment; and we think that it is entirely

due to his exertions and those of the mate that the vessel did not sink in deep

water, and that in fact anything at all was saved from her. And in the sentence

which we are about to pronounce, we have given due weight to these

circumstances. At the same time we think that no master of a vessel is justified

in risking the property of his owners, and the lives entrusted to his charge, as

this man has done. He told us that he had often before steered a S. 1/2 W.

course from Cape Roca to pass Cape St. Vincent; possibly he may have done so in

daylight or in clear weather, for as he approached the Cape, if he found himself

too close to it, he could easily draw off by slightly altering the helm. But in

thick foggy weather, when he could see only a few yards ahead, he had no right

to steer a course which he would have seen from his chart, if he had consulted

it, would have landed him on the shore. This man has shown so much negligence in

the management of his vessel, that we think that it would be better for him that

he should go a voyage or two in a subordinate capacity; and we shall therefore

suspend his certificate for six months, at the same time recommending to the

Board of Trade that he be allowed during that time a first mate's certificate.

(To Mr. Howard Smith.) I presume you do not ask for costs?

(Mr. Howard Smith.) No, Sir.

(The Commissioner.) We shall not give any costs in this case. We return all the

certificates to the officers, except that of the master.

H. C. ROTHERY, Wreck Commissioner.

I 101. 68, 70.—11/78. Wt. B 612. E. & S.